Young brains develop rapidly as the youngest among us absorb their surroundings like a sponge. That is why putting these developing young citizens on a positive path of learning is vital. To meet. . .
“It’s an exciting program to have,” said Ronza Reynard, the director of ministry for the Salvation Army in Estevan. “It’s different. I’ve seen it done in other Salvation Armies, and thought why not in Estevan?” The Salvation Army reached out to the different schools to see if any thought there was a need in the school for this type of program. “We’re excited that Westview came and said ‘Yes, this is something our students could use,’ and so we’ve been in the process of making it happen.” The program launched May 3. There were some kinks to work out, but it’s good to know that there will be a lunch ready for the students each day.
“We had some important legislation we had to get through, we had a budget we wanted to pass so that we could get projects out the door and make those announcements for the communities, and keep the work going in Saskatchewan,” said Carr. The budget included a number spending commitments for Estevan, including the planning of a new Estevan Regional Nursing Home, the expansion of the addictions treatment centre at St. Joseph’s Hospital, the addition of a Police and Crisis Team for the Estevan Police Service, and funding for additional early years family resource centre in Estevan, through a partnership with the South East Cornerstone Public School Division.
ECS has been at Level 4 since May 6. Because of the variants of concern, when an individual is infectious while in school, public health has advised the full class – along with the staff and, if applicable, everyone on the bus – as close contacts. Due to the number of staff and students impacted through both illness and contact tracing, remaining in remote delivery is necessary. The school and the division will continue to study the trends in Estevan and in particular within their student body and staff over the next week. Little said it is their hope that with more time and increased eligibility to vaccines, that the trends will decrease and in-class learning can return May 25.
Cornerstone also has several classes and grade levels across the system that have moved to remote learning due to a positive case. Midale Central School Grades 6-12 moved to remote, the K-5 have remained face to face. The school division continues to have classes of students and staff who are deemed close contacts across the system. Over the weekend the division had a kindergarten class at Spruce Ridge School that moved to remote learning, along with a Grade 11/12 class at Stoughton Central School, a Grade 10 class at the Carnduff Education Complex and a Grade 4/5 class at the Carlyle Elementary School.